I know I will write, write, and write some more about the themes they touched on during the keynote, but little did I know that just hours after they were done speaking, I would have to explore one of them: my fear boundary.
I have tried lots of things in my 40 years:
- Horseback riding, both English and Western
- Singing lessons
- Piano lessons
- Ballet lessons
- Photography classes
- Biking down a volcano
- Sailing lessons
- Korean and African dancing
- Filming and editing my own movies, pre-iMovie, pre-digital
- Still-life drawing
- Running through the streets of Rome, alone, at 7AM
To name a few.
I can:
- Do the splits
- Develop and print my own film
- Make a beef wellington from scratch
- Speak in public without getting nervous
- Run three miles without stopping
- Do the Electric Slide, the Cabbage Patch, and the Macarena
- Teach anyone how to drive a stick-shift
- Put on false eyelashes with a steady hand
- Paint any wall without masking, without making mistakes
- Sing an entire song in Hawaiian
I have tried and I can do all these things, but I don't like to do anything even remotely dare-devil-y. Oh, I know EXACTLY where my fear boundary lies.
I won't:
- Go on a rollercoaster
- Fly in a single-engine plane
- Snowboard down a mountain
- Scuba dive
- Bungee jump
- Walk through a haunted house
- Go on a water slide
- Parachute, hang-glide, or EVER (Karen!) ride in a hot air balloon
- Stand on those glass ledges that are really high up so it looks like you are standing on nothing
- Face the outside when I am riding in a glass elevator
I don't like heights. I don't like feeling like I'm not in control. Just the thought of doing any of those things terrifies me.
Which is why, last Saturday, after listening to Karen and Brené talk, when my friend Stephanie (who is from YONKERS, you don't get more city than that) suggested that we ride an open chair lift up to an elevation of 8,000+ feet and then luge down a mountain because "It'll be FUN!"
I said, "Okay."
And I am so glad I did.
